TicoLover

Provide all your pay stubs for the past year and a letter from your employer supporting your increased pay and proof of employment. I had a lawyer, but still found this website helpful in understanding the process. We were caught in the middle of the recognition of same-sex marriages between my husband arriving on a tourist visa and overstaying his visa in 2006 and then being able to get married and apply for a change of status in 2013, so I thought it was worth the money to hire a lawyer. I was more right than I had any idea. We were the first Costa Rican-American couple same-sex couple to apply for a change of status based on the marriage and the first same-sex couple to go into the local service center office. There were issues that our lawyer had to get involved in at that time. Things are more streamlined now.

Wow, that's a long road you traveled. My husband was granted permanent residency in right around 90 days. I guess that process is a lot faster than the fiancé visa process. Good Luck!

We finished our journey (well, the CR-1 part) in July. I'm sure I speak for all of us same-sex couples when I say that the relief of being able to travel back and forth to our respective countries is palpable.

We are currently in Australia for a visit and will be coming to the US for the very first time with an official green card on December 1st. I'm curious as to how it will play out - I think it will be a non-event. It will be nice to front up to the Immigration Officer together - as a couple - and hand over our documents!

From all I can tell on Visa Journey, most of us are getting through the process (albeit at a snail's pace) successfully. 35 States and Washington DC now have marriage equality - if that is not a clear message to the Supreme Court this time around, I don't know what is.

Sometimes I wonder if those judges in the 6th District said "no" on purpose to force SCOTUS to end the ####### once and for all....

Sukie in Oz (and NY)

Congrats, wat state r u in

We are in Sacramento, California.

Green Card received 11/27/13. That's super quick I think. Our interview was on Tuesday, Nov 19 and receive the Green Card on Wednesday, Nov 27. The IO said it would be two weeks, but only took 8 days!!!

Hi every one

i just wanted to share with you that today, NOvember 22, our packet was sent to NVC. finally )

thanks and good luck to you all

Good luck!

Friends, got approved on 19th nov, got welcome 2 USA later on 22nd november,

I have travel plans on 9th december.

I also have AP.

Just in case I don't get the GC before I leave what should I do ?

thanks in advance.

Hi, We are in the same situation. Our appointment was November 19, approved that day. IO told us we would receive the Green Card in two weeks, so the next day I bought a ticket for my husband to fly back to Costa Rica for the first time in 7 years. He leaves December 8. My lawyer told me if we didn't receive the Green Card in time, to schedule an Info Pass appointment to have his passport stamped. I'm emailing my lawyer today to ask her how long it takes to get an appointment, so I know if we don't have the Green Card in hand by a certain day when we should make the Info Pass appointment.

Interview from hell....more than one hour. We were drilled for nearly all that time on intention when getting the tourist visa and intention upon arrival and even intention to stay in our first 60 days. We didn't even apply until being here 5 months. We are under further review.

Sorry to hear your interview didn't go well. Sounds somewhat like the first half of our interview, but yours was twice as long and not approved at the end of the interview like ours was. Is Immigration questioning the validity of your relationship, or are they implying that you committed immigration fraud on intent at the Embassy interview and entry into the US? That was definitely what our IO was doing vehemently for half our interview. I eventually looked him straight in his eyes and told him quite honestly, "Things didn't go as originally planned." That's when he stopped that line of questioning and started asking for evidence of relationship. I wonder if having my lawyer glaring at him from behind me didn't shorten the first line of questioning? I'm more convinced than ever that no one should go into that office with the IO without a lawyer taking notes and staring down the IO. I think it keeps them from crossing the line from a reasonable line of questioning to becoming excessive and abusive if they are of that mind.

PS. I finally told my lawyer about the incident that happened at the Service Center in September about the name change and she told me I was being discriminated against and she is filling a complaint for me.

Sorry for the long post, but we had our interview yesterday in Ft Lauderdale (Oakland Park field office) and were approved after a very pleasant 20 minutes with our IO. Over the past three months I have gained a lot of knowledge and comfort reading everyone’s questions and comments. Thanks for sharing your stories. Here is our interview experience.

We arrived at 9:05 for our 9:45 appointment and went through security. Our lawyer arrived a few minutes later and we went to check in. Our lawyer actually had two same-sex couples scheduled for interviews at the same exact time, so all five of us sat down together to wait. Our lawyer's plan was to go with the first couple called, tell the IO about the double booking, and ask them to let the IO assigned to the other couple about the conflict. If the couple left behind were called before the lawyer returned, they would tell the IO the situation. If the IO asked the couple to sign a waiver and do the interview without the lawyer, they should refuse at which point the IO would probably skip to the next couple on their list and come back later.

We had been waiting for about 15 minutes when our lawyer saw a lawyer she knew and went to talk with him. When our lawyer came back, she let us know that the appointments were running about 45 minutes behind so it seemed we would be waiting till at least 10:30. Much to our surprise, our name was called at about 9:50. Our lawyer led us into the back room and as we walked around the corner to the IO’s office, our lawyer explained the scheduling conflict. The IO casually mentioned that it shouldn’t be a problem since the interview wouldn’t take long. That was nice to hear at the start of the interview.

With the door closed, the IO swore us in and started with me (the USC). She basically asked me to confirm the info on the I-130. This only took a few minutes. Then she turned to my husband and ran through the questions on the I-485. There was one funny moment when she asked about polygamy. The room was silent and the IO turned to me. I laughed and said, “We’re just lucky we could get married once!” We all had a good laugh and the interview continued. The IO started asking about how we met and when we moved in together and then we got off on a tangent about visiting Charleston S.C. Once that wrapped up the IO mentioned that she was approving the petition pending the name check.

At this point I got a little emotional, and while I tried not to cry, the relief of being approved made my efforts futile. At that moment my husband got up to give me a hug and then our lawyer’s phone started to ring. She tried to press ignore but it wouldn’t stop ringing and she kept trying to shut it off as she repeated “ignore, ignore, ignore”. My husband thought she might be talking to him about not getting up to hug me but he didn’t care. At that point the IO reached into the drawer for some tissues and even she was a little teary eyed. After that, we all got up, shook hands, and the IO walked us to the front. We hugged our lawyer, went over to the other couple, and briefly explained what happened. Within one minute they were called and off they went. Later that day we heard from our lawyer and she confirmed that they also got approved, so it was a great day for everyone involved.

The icing on the cake came this afternoon when we received emails from USCIS stating that our green card is in production and the I-130 had been approved. So all we need to do now is wait for the green card (plus the SS card which still hasn’t arrived three weeks after applying). All in all, we feel very fortunate to have gotten through this process in just a few months. I’m still amazed at how much has changed recently. 5 months ago DOMA fell, 4 months ago we got married in Maryland, 3 months ago we applied for AOS, and today we are nearly done. Thanks again for all the help you’ve given us. Best of luck to everyone!

Congratulations! Yes, it is amazing!

wow!!! what a moving story.. the only thing that I have to say is congrats and well deserved... now I hope your husband sees his family and enjoys his time there....

Thank you. We received the email and text message last night that my husband's Green Card is in production. This morning I booked my husband's trip to Costa Rica for 6 weeks in December-January.

We received text message and email at 7:00PM updating status to card in production for Green Card.

We had our interview this morning at 9:45 at the Sacramento USCIS office and were approved on the spot after some very tough questioning for half an hour. We were accompanied by our lawyer and I was really getting worried that IOS was not going to approve us as he kept hammering us with repetitive questions for half the interview about our intent when my husband entered the US 7 years ago. He asked us how we met and the timeline of my trips to Costa Rica and why my husband overstayed his business visa. He reviewed in detail the visa interview at the US Embassy in Costa Rica from over 7 years ago and verified that I was the person accompanying my husband to that interview. He was starting to ask for verification about my corporation in Costa Rica then noticed that all the verifications were on file from the visa interview 7 years ago. He asked both of us about 5 times in different ways the intent when my husband came to US. After about 15 minutes of hammering away at us on those questions he switched to asking us questions about accounts in common and checking out checking books which showed we were living at the same address since early 2007 and my husband had even made payments for furniture for the house from the checking account he opened in February 2007 at our common address. He looked at the financial records a little and then asked for photos. We showed him photos from the time we met in person in May 2006 until our recent Blessing of our Civil Marriage that we celebrated like a large wedding with 170 guests last Monday on the 7th anniversary of my husband arriving in the US. When then offered to provide more documentation and he said that's enough to clearly establish our relationship and all he has to do is check the background check and will approve the AOS this afternoon. He kept about 15 of our original photos, many from when we first met and photos of us together with friends and family over the past 7 years, and a couple of our photos from the wedding. One of the photos iI provided s where we are kissing during the Blessing Ceremony. Yes, we are really gay.

As we were leaving the office, my husband nearly fainted and fell against the wall in relief that it was over. The lawyer told us that she thought that she was going to have to intervene and start asking the IOS why he was asking so many questions about something that already been established with the granting of the business visa back in 2007. Then when he turned to the photos and quickly said he was going to approve the application, she realized that what he was doing was shoring up our application so that two years from now there would be no unanswered questions for the next IOS to ask that could potentially cause us problems down the road. Either way, we went through the trial by fire over intent and overstaying the visa and came out the other side successfully. Now, I can buy my husband his plane ticket to go back to visit his family in Costa Rica for the first time in 7 years!

We had our interview this morning at 9:45 at the Sacramento USCIS office and were approved on the spot after some very tough questioning for half an hour. We were accompanied by our lawyer and I was really getting worried that IOS was not going to approve us as he kept hammering us with repetitive questions for half the interview about our intent when my husband entered the US 7 years ago. He asked us how we met and the timeline of my trips to Costa Rica and why my husband overstayed his business visa. He reviewed in detail the visa interview at the US Embassy in Costa Rica from over 7 years ago and verified that I was the person accompanying my husband to that interview. He was starting to ask for verification about my corporation in Costa Rica then noticed that all the verifications were on file from the visa interview 7 years ago. He asked both of us about 5 times in different ways the intent when my husband came to US. After about 15 minutes of hammering away at us on those questions he switched to asking us questions about accounts in common and checking out checking books which showed we were living at the same address since early 2007 and my husband had even made payments for furniture for the house from the checking account he opened in February 2007 at our common address. He looked at the financial records a little and then asked for photos. We showed him photos from the time we met in person in May 2006 until our recent Blessing of our Civil Marriage that we celebrated like a large wedding with 170 guests last Monday on the 7th anniversary of my husband arriving in the US. When then offered to provide more documentation and he said that's enough to clearly establish our relationship and all he has to do is check the background check and will approve the AOS this afternoon. He kept about 15 of our original photos, many from when we first met and photos of us together with friends and family over the past 7 years, and a couple of our photos from the wedding. One of the photos iI provided s where we are kissing during the Blessing Ceremony. Yes, we are really gay.

As we were leaving the office, my husband nearly fainted and fell against the wall in relief that it was over. The lawyer told us that she thought that she was going to have to intervene and start asking the IOS why he was asking so many questions about something that already been established with the granting of the business visa back in 2007. Then when he turned to the photos and quickly said he was going to approve the application, she realized that what he was doing was shoring up our application so that two years from now there would be no unanswered questions for the next IOS to ask that could potentially cause us problems down the road. Either way, we went through the trial by fire over intent and overstaying the visa and came out the other side successfully. Now, I can buy my husband his plane ticket to go back to visit his family in Costa Rica for the first time in 7 years!

Good evening all,

Today, Darwin and I had our interview. Our experience is not much to speak of in terms of excitement. We got there at 10:00 and our appointment was at 10:30. We waited until 11:20 until we were called in. The interview was 10 minutes long. I received a text message telling me of a status change at 5:30. His card is in production. She also told us at the interview that the he will receive his card in 2 weeks. We are so very relieved!

Wishing everyone the best of luck!

Congratulations!!!

Hi all!!

Australian half of a binational same-sex couple here.

Anyways, I'd been meaning to post for a while, but have been in celebratory mode these past two weeks after my AOS was approved!!

Thought I'd do a little write up on our experience...

We arrived in downtown WAY too early (just to be safe!), so we had lunch across the road in the Los Angeles Mall (what a dump!). The we made our way over to USCIS and through security and met our lawyer in the lobby and then we went up to the eighth floor. The eighth floor waiting area looked basically abandoned, must have been a quiet day. We dropped off our interview notice at the window, and soon later, we were called over by the interviewing officer to check our IDs. She asked for Drivers Licenses and our lawyer’s bar card.

As soon as we went to sit back down and wait, the IO called us to her room. The three of us went in and the officer swore in my husband and I. The IO then asked our lawyer for bona fides, as none were submitted with the application (take note people- it seems perfectly ok to submit your application with only the marriage certificate, then present proof at the interview). Our lawyer then handed the IO a big stack of our supporting documents- rental agreement, bank statement, health insurance, auto insurance, credit card, cell bill, photos, travel itineraries and letters. Our lawyer was amazing, she told the IO how comprehensive our documents were, etc. and established a very good rapport with the IO. Our lawyer basically sold our case to the IO and said “my gay couples are so organized and have so much proof because they’ve had to wait so long”. It was then the IO said how happy she was that they were now approving same-sex petitions. Our lawyer had hole-punched all our documents at the top, apparently this is how the IOs like it, makes assembling our file easier. No fancy folders, no binders, no plastic sleeves, just a big stack of papers hole-punched at the top. The IO then, very casually, asked us how and when we met, and how long we’d been dating before getting married (we’d been “dating” since the minute we met!), while she organized our papers.

The IO then went over our forms (I-485, I-130, G-325A), asking us to verify each answer. She verified our birthdays and noticed our large age difference (my husband is 17 years older than me).. It wasn’t an issue at all, she just said to my husband “lucky you” (we could tell our IO was very liberal). She noticed my date of most recent entry and the date on my I-94 were different… My last entrance was via land crossing from Canada, as my husband and I visit family in Canada each Christmas… There’s nowhere to surrender your I-94 when you cross into Canada by car, and CBP don’t stamp your passport when you drive back home if your I-94 is still unexpired. Our lawyer explained this and it wasn’t a problem (I was a little nervous about this before the interview, re “proof of legal entry”). The IO noticed my answers on the I-485 regarding organization/association memberships. I was politically active in my college years (member of a very mainstream political party) and have been in various employee unions. She asked about the nature of those associations, and I explained each of them. Then she asked me the silly yes/no questions from the I-485. She asked my partner how he was naturalized (employment). She also noted how I’d previously applied for permanent residency, as I won the 2014 green card lottery, though my visa number was not yet current. The IO said “well, congratulations anyway”.

She then skimmed through our supporting documents, then said the magic words “I am approving your application”, and then I started tearing up! So embarrassing... All that time having to get by on a student visa with no employment rights, putting my career on hold, no pathway to permanence, and the huge financial difficulties and emotional stress imposed on us by DOMA… it was over. In that moment, our lives had changed.

She then printed a letter from her computer of my approved new status and explained the process for removing conditions. She then took my I-94. She let me keep my EAD because I hadn’t yet had the chance to get a social security number (due to government shutdown). Our very chatty lawyer then had the IO look up the status of another case she was working on. The IO asked if we could wait while she helps out my lawyer, and my husband and I were like “take all day if you need!” since we’d already gotten the good news. Once all that was done, the IO congratulated us again, shook our hands, and escorted us back to the waiting room. Our lawyer then gave us a big hug, and that was it!!! We were out of the building by 3pm, and by the time I turned my phone back on in the parking lot, we’d received the text message/email “card production ordered”.

Was a very positive experience, the IO was courteous and friendly and not intimidating. After it was all done, I felt like saying to our lawyer and IO “So when will we see each other again? Aren’t we all friends now?” lol

Although our case was fairly straightforward, there is NO WAY I would have stepped inside that interview room without a lawyer, it’s just too risky, I think, especially for us same-sex couples. You never know what type of IO you’ll get! Kudos to our lawyer, she was amazing!! We would have been completely lost without her help, and she was so good at putting us at ease during the interview. She was worth every cent, and I will probably hire her again to help us with removing conditions. If anyone needs to hire a lawyer in the Los Angeles area, I'd be happy to pass on her details.

If there’s one piece of advice I could dispense from this experience, it would be this… Don’t stress!! I know, easier said than done… But the whole interview was such a positive experience, my husband and I had gotten completely worked up for nothing!

Congratulations! Yes, I agree, way too important not to have a lawyer in that room with you during the interview. You never know where a disgruntled homophobe might be lurking.

I have had my fair share of horror stories at the border and a lot of those happened at land crossings, which I observes that the agents tend to be a lot more narrow minded there. I found it very insulting that before DOMA was repealed, it was bad either we claimed the same sex relationship or not. If not, they look through all your stuff while they belittle you and try to make a liar out of you. If so, they deny you as having immigrant intent. I have had more than one agents who accused me of wanting to "adjust my status" once I get into the US when I just asked him a simple "how" (before June 2013)?

It's unfortunate that the CBP tends to attract the worst type of personalities, those commando who think the whole world is out to do harm to the US. Worse, unlike your Police Department, many Constitutional rights are suspended during your inspection at the border, including your rights to counsel and your right to refuse search and illegal seizure. The agents know that much and take full advantage. They also know you have the right to have the case looked at by a supervisor and there is a phone that you could lodge a complaint, but after hours of interrogation, who in the right mind would fight that? Do you know there is a jail cell at most if not all POEs?

I would correct Juan Bravo on one count, even if your partner was denied entry, that has nothing to do with K1 because while it is categorized as an non-immigrant visa, it is dual intent, like the the H1-B. So even if your partner was denied entry based on having immigrant intent and he goes on to obtain a K1 visa. When he activate that at the border, he could display all the immigrant intents he wants and he can't be denied again based on that.

Maybe they were just closet cases and wanted an excuse to look at the pics (I'm thinking nude) of you guys on the cell phone. Many of the most fanatic men on the planet have been closet cases. The more homophobic they are the more likely they are closeted, repressed, latent homosexuals themselves. Study after study has shown that to be true with different experimental models

We were felling bad because she treated us like criminals...

But for 2 years we don't need to deal with them anymore!

Did you get any idea of what the IO's problem was? Maybe she was prejudiced in some way because of nationality, age difference, etc. I still remember one person on this website that wrote that his fiance's visa was denied because the Embassy consular said he was too ugly to be with such a bautiful woman. We had an issue with the manager at at the service center in West Sacramento because my husband changed his name to my last name when we got married and she questioned that our marriage was legal and gave us a disapproving look when she realized he was married to a man. That's one of the reasons we are going to the interview with a lawyer.

Hello All,

It helps so much to read your stories... it's just so random sometimes.. my husband is in Sydney and we are awaiting our NOA2 which if I believe the avg times shown could be more a long time away! Happy to hear from other Australian experiences.

Everyone should read your immigration story in your profile page. It made me mad that just in the last couple of years you had been threatened with denial of entry because ICE knew you were married. I'm more sure than ever that my husband and I made the right decision for him to overstay his visa 7 years ago and not get married until DOMA was overturned. I've come across several ICE agents over the years who have been homophobic jerks. After my husband decided to stay in the US, I've been flying back and forth to Costa Rica every 6 months to take presents to his family and take video and photos of his family and bring back most of his property in my suitcases slowly over the years. One time I was bringing back his video collection and they went through every video and played several of them and when they across Brokeback Mountain the agent called it pornography!

Hi! Just popping up in this thread to check in.

I'm the non-USC beneficiary and we are a binational same-sex couple for almost 19 years (19 year anniversary coming up in January 2014).

My USC fiancé/domestic partner and I met online in December 1994 via the Usenet Newsgroups (does anyone else here know what Usenet and Newsgroups are? LOL) when we were both in college in the same state (a marriage equality state now).

After meeting in person in January 1995, we have been a couple since, and we have lived together for many years and also lived apart for many years. Our love kept our relationship together even as we were physically kept apart by an unconstitutional law (DOMA).

Thanks to Justice Anthony Kennedy's brilliant opinion in Windsor v. United States (and thanks to Edith Windsor's almost quixotic search for justice), we are now achieving immigration equality.

Here's to our liberation from the shackles of an unconstitutional law foisted upon us by reactionary, homophobic politicians and a toast to our pursuit of happiness with our loved one.

Congratulations. Very well written comment. Do you remember gay chat rooms on Procomm from about 1990?

is amazing and exciting to read each post fills me with happiness every good news, I feel like mine! unfortunately I had complications with the procedure of my papers, I've been stuck and now I have taken up the project "booklet love "as I call I-129F (K1 VISA), Congratulations to all who have made ​​it to the finish line! ... guys be nice to make a video with the assembly of the package and all documents sent as an additional illustration.

Good ideas. I would like to see more photos and illustrations on this website.

He couldn't get a DL until now because we couldn't get married and have it recognized by the federal government so I couldn't petition for him. We've lived together for 7 years since he arrived in the US. We met in Costa Rica almost 8 years ago.

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IF you have one, then you are required by law to provide it.

According to this, you do not need one.

http://igateways.sjsu.edu/driving-California

He overstayed his tourist visa nearly 7 years ago, so he is unable to obtain a DL in California and unable to obtain a letter from SS office stating he does not need a SS number. The only exemption from the law is if someone is here legally and able to provide a letter from SS office that they can't obtain a DL. You have to either present a social security number or this letter from SS office with documents that you are in the US legally, visa not expired.

All customers applying for an original DL/ID card must provide evidence of legal presence in the United States as authorized under federal law.

• If you were born in the United States (U.S.) or become a U.S. citizen, you are eligible for an SSN, and must provide it to DMV.
• If you are not a U.S. citizen, but in the United States legally and authorized to work, you are eligible for an SSN, and must provide it to DMV.
• If you are not a U.S. citizen, but in the United States legally and are not authorized to work, you are not eligible for an SSN.

Congrats.

Why did you wait to get a DL - you don't need a SSN for that.

Beside that good luck:)

Yes, in California a person is required by law to provide a valid social security number to obtain a drivers license

.The California Vehicle Code (CVC) requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to collect your social security number (SSN). (CVC §§1653.5(a)(b), 12800(a), 12801) Federal law also allows any state to use a person's SSN for the purpose of establishing his/her identification. (42 U.S.C. §405©(2)©(I)

My husband is going tomorrow with his new social security card to take the test for his California driver's license.

Congratulations to New Jersey same-sex couples (Strati & Darwin) where marriage becomes legal on Monday!!!